DINDIGUL: In third murder in the past 10 days in southern TN, Nirmala Devi, 70, fifth accused in the sensational murder of dalit outfit chief C Pasupathy Pandian in 2012, was beheaded by two bike-borne men on Wednesday. The assailants took the severed head to Pandian’s house at Nanthavanapatti village located 500 metres from the murder spot and placed it below his poster. Nirmala Devi had allegedly provided protection to the assailants of Pasupathy Pandian.
The beheading of Nirmala Devi, first woman and fifth victim to be killed by the supporters of Pasupathy Pandian, follows several macabre deaths of a bloody trail. Others who had fallen to retaliatory murders are Pura Madasamy, Muthupandi, Batcha alias Madasamy, and Sami alias Arumugasamy. Pandian, founder-president of Devendrakula Vellalar Kootamaipu, was hacked to death at his house on January 10, 2012.
Police arraigned 18 people, including Subash Pannaiyar, as accused in the murder case. The trial is under way before a Special Court for SC/ST (POA) Act cases in Dindigul,
On Wednesday morning, Nirmala Devi was walking towards her MNREGS work site from Valluvar Nagar, near Nanthavanapatti, when she was waylaid by the two men at David Nagar. After attacking her multiple times, they beheaded her, leaving the body in a pool of blood in front of a shop.
Nirmala Devi’s body and head were taken to Dindigul medical college hospital for autopsy. Dindigul Range DIG B Vijayakumari and superintendent of police V R Srinivasan visited the scene of crime and conducted inquiries. Srinivasan told TOI that six special teams have been formed to nab the accused.
Sources said that while fleeing on the bike after abandoning Nirmala Devi’s head, the assailants met with an accident about a km away as they hit a pedestrian. An argument broke out and the duo abandoned their bike and fled the scene on other bikes brought by their accomplices.
The police said they traced the owner of the bike but he was unaware of his bike being used for the crime.
This is the third beheading incident in the southern districts in the last 10 days. Last Monday, K Sankarasubramanian, 37, was beheaded by a gang in Tirunelveli and his head was abandoned near the grave of a dalit murdered in 2013.
In retaliation, A Mariappan, 37, a dalit, was murdred two days later and his head was placed at the spot where Sankarasubramanian was killed.
